4.  The applicant was born in 1973 and is currently serving a prison sentence in Kırşehir.
5.  The facts of the case as presented by the applicant and the Government are based on a number of documents drawn up in the course of the domestic proceedings. The following information appears from the parties’ submissions as well as from the documents submitted by them.
6.  On 17 February 1994 a warrant was issued for the applicant’s arrest on suspicion of membership of an illegal organisation, namely the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front-Revolutionary Left (Devrimci Halkın Kurtuluşu Partisi/Cephe-Dev Sol; THKP/C-Dev Sol). He was arrested on 14 July 1994 and taken into police custody.
7.  On 17 July 1994 a police chief at the Istanbul Security Headquarters drafted a report which stated that the applicant had refused to respond to the questions put to him. This report was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office at the Istanbul State Security Court. In another report prepared by the police the same day, the applicant was quoted as having stated that he would only talk to the prosecutor, but that in any event the allegations against him were baseless.
8.  According to a medical report drafted on 17 July 1994 by the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute, the applicant had ecchymosed areas, measuring 4x2 cm and 4x7 cm, both under his armpits and on his shoulders. Another ecchymosed area, measuring 2x2 cm, was also observed on his right shoulder. The report stated that the injuries were of a nature which would prevent the applicant from working for a period of three days.
9.  The same day the applicant was brought before the prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court, who questioned him and recorded his statement. In this statement the applicant denied having had any involvement in any illegal organisation. He also informed the prosecutor that he had refused to sign a statement prepared by the police in which the name Dev-Sol was mentioned. The applicant was brought before the duty judge, who questioned him further and ordered his pre-trial detention. Before the judge the applicant repeated his denial of any involvement with any illegal organisation.
10.  On 27 July 1994 the public prosecutor at the Ankara State Security Court filed an indictment, accusing the applicant of membership of the above-mentioned illegal organisation. The prosecutor requested that the applicant be convicted and sentenced under Article 168 § 2 of the Criminal Code and section 5 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The prosecutor stated that the documents in the case files in respect of a number of persons who were being tried for membership of the same organisation proved that the applicant had also been a member. The prosecutor further alleged that a handwritten autobiography belonging to the applicant, which had been submitted to the illegal organisation, proved that he was one of its members.
11.  On 1 August 1994 the criminal proceedings against the applicant were joined to the ongoing trial of twenty-four persons accused of offences related to the illegal organisation. Subsequently, the trial was conducted by the Ankara State Security Court’s First Chamber (hereafter “the trial court”).
12.  On 19 January 1995 the applicant submitted a letter to the trial court, stating that “pressure” had been exerted on him by the police to force him to accept the accusations. In his letter the applicant denied having given the organisation his autobiography, and maintained that he did not know who had given evidence against him.
13.  On 21 February 1995 the applicant submitted another request to the trial court, in which he asked to be released. In his request the applicant stated that he was not the author of the handwritten autobiography. In that autobiography there was a reference to the son of an uncle; in fact he had no uncles. He maintained that a forensic examination of the autobiography would establish that he was not the author. The applicant also maintained that he did not know the person who had accused him of membership of the organisation. In any event, that person had later retracted his statement. The applicant also alleged that he had been subjected to torture while in police custody. In support of his allegation he referred to the above-mentioned medical report of 17 July 1994.
14.  A total of forty-six hearings were held in the course of the applicant’s trial. A number of hearings had to be postponed on account of some of the defendants’ failure to comply with the summonses. A number of other hearings were postponed to enable the trial court to obtain important documents and reports. At each of these hearings the trial court decided to extend the applicant’s remand in custody.
15.  On 9 December 1997 the trial court, which had a military judge on its bench, convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment in accordance with Article 168 § 2 of the Criminal Code. The prison sentence was increased by half, pursuant to section 5 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Consequently, the applicant was sentenced to twenty-two years and six months’ imprisonment. One of the applicants’ co-accused, a certain Mr E.K., was also convicted of the same offences and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. Mr E.K.’s prison sentence was also increased by half and consequently he was sentenced to a total of fifteen years’ imprisonment.
16.  In finding the applicant guilty of membership of the illegal organisation, the trial court observed that the applicant’s autobiography had been found in the organisation’s possession. It also established that the applicant had joined the organisation with the assistance of two of the co-accused but had escaped from it with the help of another person.
17.  The court’s written judgment was 55 pages long.
18.  The applicant appealed on 15 December 1997. On 27 April 1999 the Court of Cassation upheld the applicant’s conviction. The applicant was not represented by a lawyer before the Court of Cassation.
19.  The decision of the Court of Cassation was deposited with the registry of the Ankara State Security Court on 20 May 1999. A committal order was prepared on 24 March 2000, showing the time which the applicant was to spend in prison. The committal order was notified to the applicant on 30 March 2000 by the prison administration.